36 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVIII. No. 706 



Anthropology, for academic instruction 

 and training in the new branch of science. 

 Finally, in 1885, appeared Paul Topinard's 

 great text-book on anthropology, the "Ele- 

 ments d 'anthropologic generale," which to 

 this day is an indispensable volume in our 

 laboratories. A long step was made dur- 

 ing this time in the differentiation of an- 

 thropology as a whole into its main sub- 

 divisions, namely, physical anthropology, 

 ethnology and archeology. 



But this period of the first twenty-five 

 years of anthropology as a separate branch 

 of learning, a period of the greatest activ- 

 ity, the detailed and stiU unwritten history 

 of which is of absorbing interest, was not one 

 of uninterrupted progress. There was en- 

 countered, above all, a crisis which affected 

 especially physical anthropology and from 

 the effects of which it is only now begin- 

 ning to recover. This crisis was the result 

 of what may be called a schism in anthro- 

 pometry, begun in 1874 by Ihering and 

 completed in 1882 by the German anthro- 

 pologists at Frankfurt. This is not the 

 place for a discussion of the causes or de- 

 tails of the case; it suffices to say that at 

 the present time a commission, composed 

 of the foremost physical anthropologists of 

 Europe— French, German and from other 

 countries — is endeavoring, and with much 

 success, to select the best from the existing 

 methods in anthropometry and bring about 

 a much-needed uniformity.^ A complete 

 agreement on this subject will be of the 

 greatest importance and mark an epoch in 

 our branch of learning. 



This chapter, neeessaxily superficial, 

 will be appropriately concluded with a 



° For what lias been accomplished see F. v. 

 Lusehan, " Die Konferenz von Monaco," Korr.-Bl. 

 d. d. Ges. f. Anthrop., etc., Juli, 1906, pp. 53 et 

 seq. — in Arch. f. Anthrop., "1906, H. 1-2; and 

 " Entente Internationale pour I'unification des 

 mesures eraniomStriques et c^phalom^triques," 

 L' Anthropologic, 1906, pp. 559-572. 



few words concerning the actual status of 

 physical anthropology. The subject, like 

 the whole history of this science, calls for 

 a thorough presentation, but such is out of 

 the question in an address of this nature. 



Physical anthropology counts distin- 

 guished followers wherever science pro- 

 gresses; it has already an extensive bibli- 

 ography of its own ; it maintains a number 

 of well-equipped laboratories, where stu- 

 dents are trained ; it possesses a large series 

 of important collections of material for 

 investigation; it contributes the bulk of 

 original matter to well-established anthro- 

 pological journals of high standing, such 

 as the Bulletins et Memoires de la Societe 

 d'anthropologie de Paris, the Archiv fur 

 Anthropologie, the Zeitschrift fiir Mor- 

 phologie und Anthropologie, Biometrica, 

 Man, etc., while numerous other results 

 of investigation are being disseminated 

 through periodicals devoted to anatomy, 

 general biology, and to other subdivisions 

 of anthropology; finally, it is a subject or 

 a part of instruction in the Ecole d'an- 

 thropologie, in the Anthropological Insti- 

 tute of Zurich University, in several large 

 museums, and in one or more of the prin- 

 cipal tiniversities in almost all civilized 

 countries." It is still struggling with nu- 

 merous difficulties which retard it, but, 

 unless development in science stops, it has 

 before it a wide and useful future. 



n 



The questions are often asked by those 



° For information regarding instruction in an- 

 thropology see J. Ranke, in Lexis, 1896, p. 117; 

 W. Waldeyer, Korr.-Bl. d. d. Ges. f. Anthrop., etc., 

 1896, p. 70; G. G. MaeCurdy, Science, Deo. 22, 

 1899, and Feb. 7, 1902; " Kecent Progress in 

 Anthropology " ( a review of the activities of 

 American institutions and individuals from 1902 

 to 1906), Amer. Anthropol., Vol. 8, No. 3, 1906; 

 R. Verneau, Bull, et M6m. Soc. d'Anthrop. de 

 Paris, 1902, p. 12, and V Anthropologie, 1904, pp. 

 113, 252 and 483. 



